Never give up hope for love
by tintenstern
Summary: Harry Potter AU. After the end of the War, Arthur went missing and is presumed dead. Alfred never stops hoping. USUK


For the usxuk Summer Camp, theme Love.

Lukas: Norway  
>Erik: Iceland<br>Vlad: Romania

* * *

><p><strong>Never give up hope for love<strong>

It took a few seconds for it to sink in. The Dark Lord lay on the floor, dead. Harry Potter had won, he had won, he had defeated Voldemort for good and brought victory and peace for the Wizarding World – no, the whole world and all its inhabitants. The air of joy and celebration was enormous; everyone wanted to get near to Harry, to touch him, talk to the one who had done it. Everyone, no matter what age, no matter what house they were from, no matter if pure-blood, half-blood, muggleborn, teachers and students, members of Dumbledore's Army and Order of the Phoenix, humans, house-elves, giant, centaurs alike, all sat mixed together, talking, laughing, some crying, but relieved that it was over, the war was finally over. Yes, they had lost people, family and dear friends, but most of them had survived and that feeling was something that at the moment, nothing could take from them.

But still, one person didn't join in the celebrations at all. Alfred F. Jones, known as one of the school's heroes, sat apart from the celebrating crowds, face down, barely holding back his tears. Of course, he was happy the war was over. He was happy they hadn't suffered greater loss, that so many had survived. He wanted to celebrate, too, he really did – but he couldn't. He couldn't shake off that feeling of emptiness, loss, despair. His best friend, the one he loved dearly, was missing. No one knew where he was, but it was quite clear that he was presumably dead. And Alfred didn't even have a body to mourn.

He didn't know how much time had passed. He remained sitting there and no one seemed to pay him any mind. Only after some time was he spoken to. "Alfred, are you alright?," asked the soft voice of Tino tentatively.

Alfred looked up to see Tino as well as the rest of the group often called "the Nordics" standing by him. He snorted and countered dryly: "Does it look like it?"

Tino sat down beside him, gently laying a hand on the mourning boy's shoulder. "We know how you feel. Everyone who was lost, they all had a family, dear friends and loved ones. Everyone understands," he said quietly.

Alfred began to shake. "No," he started in a whisper, then grew steadily louder. "No. They don't understand. They don't understand, because the others are definitely dead, their corpses are there. They know they're dead and can mourn properly. But Arthur – he is missing and no one knows if he's really dead, or if he's alive, or even where he might be! How do you suppose that feels like? It's nothing at all like with the others!"

"Well... no... but...," Tino tried to reason, but couldn't find the words.

No one dared to speak for a moment. The one who broke the silence was Lukas, who rarely spoke otherwise. "I don't think you should worry like that," he said, his monotonous voice softer than usual, "after all, he's one of the best. He has powers no one else has. You can take my word for that."

"Yeah," another voice suddenly piped up, "besides, Arthur is a jerk, so he wouldn't just die like that." It was Peter, Arthur's little brother, standing there next to the group, arms crossed.

"You're no help at all," Alfred muttered but despite himself, his lips tugged upwards slightly. "But what are you doing here, anyway? You've left with the other underage students, haven't you?"

"Yeah, but I returned with my brothers once we heard of the victory and that Arthur's missing. They're looking for him now," Peter answered and pouted, "I wanted to help, too, but they wouldn't let me. Said I should stay back and wait because it would make communication easier that way. I hate waiting."

"You're not the only one...," Alfred sighed. Now that he looked around, he saw that the celebrations were now nearly over. Some people were still up, while most had fallen asleep right there in the Great Hall and others had left for the dormitories. The few left were now talking quietly, so as not to wake up the others. It had been a very long night after all, and everyone deserved to get proper rest.

Tino and Berwald insisted that Alfred and Peter get some much needed sleep as well, but both protested. They couldn't bear to sleep when they still hadn't heard news of Arthur. Other  
>younger students and friends and family members of the fighters had by now returned to Hogwarts as well, joining the ones left awake and waiting while their loved ones were sleeping.<p>

As the hours passed, more and more people arrived and woke up again. There was still work to do, after all; the castle needed to be rebuilt, a funeral needed to be organized for the fallen, the dead Death Eaters had to be disposed of and the ministry of magic needed restructuring. The house-elves prepared the usual rich meal to provide everyone with the strength needed.

It wasn't until later in the day that the older Kirkland brothers returned, shaking their heads at the questioning, hopeful looks with sadness in their own eyes. Peter then broke out into tears and clung to Lukas' brother Erik who tried to console him; their other friends looked equally as sad and unbelieving to the realization.

For Alfred, however, it was like the world had ended.

XXXXXXX

Time flew by after that. Everyone – friends and family alike – had accepted that Arthur was dead. But Alfred couldn't. He couldn't give up on him, couldn't stop hoping. Hoping that he'll come back, likely injured, even sick, but alive. He could see him wherever he went, hear his voice. The memories felt so vivid it hurt. It just seemed so strange that life was going on, but without Arthur whom he'd known ever since coming to Hogwarts. A life without Arthur – the thought was impossible for Alfred to accept.

So he kept on hoping. He kept reading the newspaper, listening to the radio, even watching muggle news on the television, all in the hopes of hearing of Arthur. But to no avail.

He stood at the kitchen counter, sighing. Summer was nearing it's end, and now it's been a few months since he last saw Arthur. He didn't know how he had done it, to live through it. None of his friends, nor his brother, had been able to fill the void in his heart.

As he stirred his coffee, he looked out of the window. The weather was quite nice, a bit sunny, a bit cloudy, the temperature was warm. It looked like it was going to rain later on. _Exactly the kind of weather Arthur likes_, he thought gloomily. Sighing again, he took the mug and walked over to the living room, sitting down on the couch and turned on the TV. There was nothing useful on at the moment. "It would be so cool if we had a device like this," he muttered while blowing air over his

coffee to cool it down, "would make things so much more entertaining. And easier. Same with telephones. I should really try to develop something." He had yet to find a job, anyway, so he had the time to do it. Who knows – he might even end up really successful and being able to adapt many of the muggles' inventions to use with magic without errors. (Because the things Mr. Weasley tried were quite clever, indeed, but really, where was the use when they didn't work properly or even exploded?)

The coffee lasted through the rest of the show and half the news. Just when he stood to make a new mug, the announcer said something that caught his attention. "Lately, there have been quite a few strange incidents," the announcer's voice sounded through the room, "several people have reported seeing a young man riding on what they described as a unicorn. The young man was estimated to be in his late teens, while the unicorn looked like it was straight from a fairytale book. There haven't been any confirmation if it's real, but we'll keep you informed!"

Alfred nearly dropped his mug. A young man on a unicorn? This... this couldn't be. There was only one person he knew could fit the description... did the others hear about it, too? Would they start hoping again? He needed to find out.

He managed to assemble everyone. They were sitting in Francis' spacious living room and all eyes were on Alfred. "Well? What did you want to tell us?," Francis asked.

"I watched muggle news today," Alfred answered. When the others rolled their eyes at him, he hastily continued. "No, listen! This time, there has been something..." He recounted what the announcer had said. "And you know there's only one person we know who could be that! He's the only one that close to unicorns. It _must_ be him!"

"Alfred, _mon cher_, sit down," Francis said, gently pushing him back down on the couch. "You're beginning to sound delusional."

"But I'm not-"

"Don't think we don't know how hard it is on you," the Frenchman interrupted, "we miss him too, after all. But you have to be realistic – there is no evidence that he survived."

"But there isn't evidence, either, that he didn't!," Alfred countered. It was always the same. They just didn't want to believe... didn't want to hope... "I won't give up hope. No matter what, not even if I die. I won't give up until I see him again."

The others looked down. It grew silent in the room. The only ones who never spoke on the matter where Lukas and Vlad, who were good friends with Arthur because of their special abilities. They shared the firm belief that Arthur was still alive somewhere, and they always made sure to let Alfred know that. It was what kept Alfred's hope strong, because he wasn't alone, he wasn't delusional, there were other friends who believed, too. The Kirkland brothers of course believed as well, but they kept it quiet to themselves.

In the following time, Alfred kept his eyes and ears open for anything about unicorns. The Wizarding World had gone back to normal and the damage brought to the Muggle World was slowly restored as well, with the help of many witches and wizards. The leaves were changing colors and falling to the ground and even though half a year had passed, Alfred kept on hoping, squishing any voice inside his head that told him to give up.

And he was to be rewarded for his persistence.

One day, he experimented with his television, keeping the radio on in the background. The reports said that the mysterious unicorn man (as he had been dubbed in the news) had now been seen in the area he lived. He itched to go seek for him, to make sure if it was his Arthur or not, but the work sadly didn't get done by itself, so he had no other choice as to wait patiently. He listened to the radio host talking about gardening, as he heard the doorbell ring.

Half expecting it to be the postman, or some kids playing a prank on him, or anything else of the sort, he opened the door. However, he didn't expect to be caught in a crushing embrace, the only thing he was able to see a flash of dirty blond hair. He stood there, too surprised to move. When he was released again and the attacker raised their head, only inches apart, he looked into the most beautiful shining green eyes. "Arthur...?," he whispered.

Arthur nodded, smiling up at him. "Yes. It's me," he whispered back.

Alfred had no idea how long they stood there, but somehow, they ended up in the living room, both crying happy tears, and Alfred made a cup of tea for Arthur. Alfred continued to pinch himself in the arm to make sure it wasn't a dream. It was real, Arthur was there and he felt complete again. Alfred was eager to know where Arthur had been all this time and what had happened, and Arthur explained how the spirits saved him from an attack that would surely have killed him, how he ended up being lost, not knowing where the hell he was, how he didn't have enough energy left to apparate, how he met the unicorn that would then become his companion, how he traveled across the land to reach Alfred. And Alfred told how he lost he felt when Arthur hadn't been there during the celebrations, how desperate when his brothers announced they couldn't find him, how he never gave up hope even though the others had accepted the possibility of Arthur's dead.

"I'm sorry I made you worried," Arthur apologized quietly.

"It's okay," Alfred breathed, "it's okay. You're back – you're back and that's all that counts. I missed you so much..."

"I missed you, too," Arthur replied, gently locking his hand with Alfred's, "that's why I had to see you before anyone else. I just had to see you again..."

Alfred shivered, a pleasant warmth spreading through his veins. They looked at each other, directly in the eyes and they met midway in a kiss. The moment seemed to last forever, the world seemed to stand still and when they broke apart, they remained close together and smiling, the feeling of love enveloping them in its warmth.


End file.
